Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive

May 9, 2015 | 3 Hour Shifts from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. | Area Post Offices

On Saturday, May 9, 2015, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) will collect food donations in order to provide assistance to the millions of Americans who are struggling with hunger.

Stamp Out Hunger is the nation’s largest single-day food drive.

The nation’s 180,000 letter carriers will collect food donations left at the mailboxes of generous Americans in more than 10,000 communities and deliver them to food banks and other hunger-relief organizations.

We need volunteers to help pick-up, sort and package the food at Post Offices around St. Louis.

Saturday | May 9, 2015

Please complete the information below and select your location and time to volunteer.

If there are multiple people in your group, please complete a form for each volunteer.

Help us generate phone calls to the House and Senate with a clear message- protect the programs that help us fight hunger!

This week, the House and Senate are expected to vote on budget resolutions that would attempt to balance the budget in 10 years.

While these resolutions are non-binding, we are concerned that they will be used to draft legislation that would balance the budget on the backs of low-income Americans by cutting the hunger-relief programs that advance our mission.

We believe it is necessary to send a strong message early in this process and let them know that cutting programs that our families rely on is the wrong way to balance the budget.

Once you are connected to your first Member of Congress, state that you are a constituent, and give your name and the town you are calling from.

Let them know you are calling about the budget and deliver this important message:As your constituent and supporter of the St. Louis Area Foodbank, I am calling you today to ask you to vote against any efforts to cut or block-grant hunger-relief programs like SNAP when you consider the budget resolution. SNAP benefits have already been cut twice in the last two years. Families rely on these programs, and our food bank will be unable to meet the need in our community if these programs are cut. Please find a more responsible way to balance the budget.

Be sure to dial back in and speak with both of your senators and your representative.

The St. Louis Area Foodbank is fortunate to have Kelly Hall, a registered dietitian, on staff. For National Nutrition Month, Kelly shares how the Foodbank is improving nutrition for the families that we serve.

Foods to Encourage

In 2013, the St. Louis Area Foodbank adopted a model designed to increase the amount of nutritious food we provide to our clients. The Foods to Encourage model has a goal that 66% of the food brought into the Foodbank is fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and low/non-fat dairy. We recognize that hunger is a health issue and we want our clients to have nutritious foods available to them in order to fight against diseases like diabetes and heart disease.

School Breakfast

Through a grant from No Kid Hungry Illinois, the Foodbank has been able to expand the School Breakfast Program to several school districts in our 12 Illinois counties. Schools have been able to bring breakfast out of the cafeteria and directly to the students with programs like Grab n’ Go and Breakfast in the Classroom. Increased participation in the School Breakfast leads to improved test scores, better attendance, fewer visits to the nurse, and overall improved behavior with less classroom disruptions. Providing students with a healthy meal to start their day is a great way to provide not only the nutrients they need to succeed in school, but also provides their bodies with the nutrients they need to grow and development into healthy adults.

Summer Meals

This summer, the Foodbank is beginning a pilot Summer Food Service Program to help reach food insecure children in our community. Most of these children rely on the free or reduced price meals they receive during the school year; during the summer months parents don’t always have the means to provide these meals. The pilot program will target areas in both Missouri and Illinois that are underserved during the summer and will bring meals to hundreds of children that need them. Currently only 17% of children in Missouri and Illinois that are eligible for free summer meals receive them.

Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR)

On September 30 2015, the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act is set to expire. This Act provides funding for child nutrition programs including the National School Breakfast & Lunch Programs, Summer Food Service Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program and WIC. All of these programs are designed to ensure that low-income families have access to nutritious food. The Child Nutrition Reauthorization will ensure that all of these programs stay funded for the next five years and that children continue to benefit from them with improved educational achievement, economic security, good nutrition and health status. The Foodbank continues to advocate for the Reauthorization to help support our efforts in providing healthy food to low-income families in our area.

Last year the St. Louis Area Foodbank distributed 310,000 pounds of sweet potatoes to our neighbors in need in the bi-state region. Foodbank staffers are celebrating National Cook a Sweet Potato Week by sharing some of our favorite recipes.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, butter and pecans. Sprinkle over the sweet potatoes.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Recommended by Kelly Hall

Easy Roasted Sweet Potatoes

These roasted sweet potatoes are easy and versatile; the possibilities are endless. With only 30 minutes you can enjoy this delicious dish for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Recommended by Allison JonesRecipe provided by Spoon and Saucer

Pulled Pork Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

This recipe is a great solution for leftover pulled pork. Delicious and smoky this recipe makes a great dinner for the chilly winter months. Recommended by Sara LewisRecipe provided by The Novice Chef

Sweet Potato Avocado Bites

These bites are vibrant, zesty, and addictive. They’re the perfect addition to any party, and they look a lot fancier than they actually are. Recommended by Michelle KnightRecipe provided by Blissful Basil

We will be watching this bill closely as it moves from the House to the Senate. We hope that as H.R. 644 moves forward in the Senate that both Republicans and Democrats can come together in support of the legislation.

This is an important legislative priority for the St. Louis Area Foodbank and food banks across the country. We know that all of your calls and emails to your Members of Congress contributed to it’s success thus far.

Stay up to date on important legislative issues and future action alerts.

$40 GA | $80 VIP

Use our promo code IRONBANK and save $5 per ticket!

A portion of the proceeds from the event benefit the Foodbank

Thank you to everyone that joined us for the first Friends of the Foodbank Pre-Party for Hunger Is No Laughing Matter.

We enjoyed delicious food by Mission Taco Joint and beverages from A-B In Bev and Glazer’s Distributors. We were also lucky to spend a little time with our headliners The Sklar Brothers and opening acts Kelsey McClure, Hot Comedy with Kenny Kinds and Nick Vatterott.

The House Ways and Means Committee will mark up today a bill that would expand and make permanent three expiring charitable tax incentives, including our food donation tax deduction. H.R. 644 was introduced Monday by Representative Tom Reed (R-NY) and is expected to move to the floor for a vote the week of February 9.

The same bill failed to pass the House under an expedited process called Suspension of the Rules last December by only a handful of votes last December. This time House Republicans are planning to bring up the charitable tax bills along with several other tax bills to highlight “Tax Certainty Week.”

This is an important legislative priority, and we urge you all to email or call your Representative this week to urge them to support its passage.

Connect to your Representative first, state that you are a constituent, and give your name and the name of the St. Louis Area Foodbank.

Let them know you are calling about food donation and charitable giving tax legislation and deliver this important message:

As your constituent and supporter of The St. Louis Area Foodbank, I am calling you today to ask you to vote for H.R. 644 on charitable giving tax incentives. This legislation is critical to ensuring our food bank has the food and the funds needed to continue supporting those in need in our community.

Saturday, January 31, 2015

The Pageant | 6161 Delmar Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63112

$30 each

Headliner: The Sklar Brothers

Randy and Jason Sklar began as one zygote and later guest starred in many TV shows, including an Emmy Award winning episode of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, the FX hit “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, as well as Adult Swim’s Childrens’ Hospital. They starred as conjoined twins in a memorable episode of Grey’s Anatomy and as warring agents on HBO’s Entourage. Of the Entourage episode, Entertainment Weekly television critic Paul Katz wrote of their turn, “in the hands of comedic masters, The Sklar Brothers, they made it soar.” They’ve also appeared in such films as Touchstone’s, Wild Hogs, and Fox Atomic’s, The Comebacks.

They currently host the critically acclaimed History Channel docu-comedy that highlights the ways in which statistics tell the story of America called The United Stats of America.Read more

Opening Act: Nick Vatterott

In 2010 The Hollywood Reporter named Nick Vatterott one of the “break-outs” at Montreal’s Just for Laughs Comedy Festival. Since then he has performed on Conan, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and has a half hour special on Comedy Central. Nick was also a producer/writer/performer on Comedy Central’s stand-up sketch hybrid show Mash-Up.
Nick has toured with Chicago’s storied Second City and his sketch group ‘Heavyweight’ has performed at Second City’s Unhinged and the Toronto Just for Laughs Festival. He was the recipient of the prestigious Andy Kaufman award in 2011 and before heading off to NYC, Chicago Magazine listed Nick as “The Funniest Man in Chicago.”

Nick Vatterott’s comedy has been called high-energy, improvisational, unconventional, outside the box, but most of all hilarious!

Emcee: Kelsey McClure

Kelsey McClure, of Comedy in the Lou,is a distinctively average comedian. She books, promotes and produces a variety of comedy events in the city. She doesn’t mind speaking in third person and one day hopes to sit on Conan O’Brien’s couch.

Once a month she recommends comedy shows and gets to interview comedians on occasion. Kelsey is also the organizer of the Riverfront Times Standup Throwdown–a standup comedy competition for aspiring comedians. Proof of which can be found via the Riverfront Times.

During November, over 30 Valvoline Instant Oil Change locations asked their customers at the register if they’d like to make a donation to the St. Louis Area Foodbank.

Here’s why we chose to work with the Foodbank:

Good Donation Mileage: Like a car getting good gas mileage per gallon, we knew donating to the Foodbank was a great way to stretch a donation. For every $5 donated, we could help provide 20 meals!

Local: We have locations all over the bi-state area – from O’Fallon, MO to O’Fallon, IL. All of our store managers wanted to work on a campaign that benefitted their own community. The Foodbank serves 14 counties in Missouri and 12 counties in Illinois. Where we are, they are. I think this type of partnership would make sense for any business with multiple locations in the greater St. Louis area.

A friendly (and sometimes heated) competition between the stores helped push everyone to be the best fundraisers they could be. Each day, we looked at how much each store raised and divided that number by how many cars were serviced. This was a fair way for every store to compete with one another.

Of the approximately 850 locations across the entire country, the location that raised the most money was based in St. Louis! On top of that, our region as a whole raised more money ($25,237) than any other region in the country!

Our employees had fun working on this campaign, and our customers liked it too. Most importantly, we were able to make sure local families have a hot meal during the coldest time of time.